Holy shnikeys, I just experienced my 1st earthquake!!! That was pretty intense.

At first I thought some fat person was jumping up & down in the apartment above me, but then my whole room started to shake for like 10 seconds & I was like "OH SH*T!" & ran out to my balcony. LOL. I don't even know WTF i'm supposed to do in that situation. (I live in a 3 story building so I was like fuggit, I'ma jump this biznotch if stuff starts breaking off up in here... hahaha)

They say it was a 5.6, I guess big enough to warrant a special report on the news right now.

Northern or Southern CA? I experienced a few when I lived out there. I thought you were supposed to stand in a doorway.

Must be LA....

by Dan Whitcomb 31 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A moderate earthquake struck east of Los Angeles on Tuesday, shaking tall buildings in the city but there were no immediate reports of injuries, major damage or power outages.
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The earthquake, which struck at 11:42 a.m. local time (2:42 p.m. EDT), was measured at magnitude 5.8. It was centered about 30 miles east of Los Angeles near the community of Chino Hills, where it was felt strongly.

But witnesses reported feeling the shaking strongly in neighboring Orange County, as far south as San Diego and as far east as Las Vegas. There were no reports of power outages.

Several small aftershocks were reported in the minutes after the quake.

A spokesman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office said there were no reports of injuries in the Chino Hills area.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said there were also no injuries reported in the city, although tall buildings swayed from side to side for a few seconds and workers poured into the streets.

Operations were not interrupted at Ontario International Airport, the closest major airport to the epicenter of the quake.

"Operations are fully functional. We are still inspecting, but so far everything is okay," Ontario International Airport spokeswoman Maria Tsoro-Fermin said.

A spokesman for Los Angeles International Airport said there were no flight delays at one of the world's busiest airports as a result of the quake.

Los Angeles city officials evacuated City Hall and some 40 miles away in Anaheim, workers at Disneyland inspected rides for damage.

The world-famous amusement park remained open.

Burbank resident Marie Henderson was in an earthquake preparedness class when her building began to shake.

"I wondered how on earth they could make an earthquake," Henderson told Reuters.

The last big quake in the Los Angeles area was the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which registered a magnitude 6.7, killed 57 people and caused considerable damage.

Magnitude 5 quakes are considered moderate but are still capable of causing damage. The USGS said Tuesday's quake was shallow, only 8.5 miles deep.

Los Angeles is the most populous city in California and the

second-most populous urban area in the United States. According to 2000 Census Bureau figures, about 3.6 million people live in Los Angeles.

(Additional reporting by Bernard Woodall, Deena Beasley, Alex Dobuzinskis and Los Angeles newsroom; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Glad you're alright TMS. My advice, don't go out on the balcony next time things start rumbling lol.

Yeah, the balcony is a bad move. I think you are suppose to go in a closet (or is that for a hurricane or twister). Anyway, like nyk4ever said glad you're alright.

Posted by nyk4ever:

Glad you're alright TMS. My advice, don't go out on the balcony next time things start rumbling lol.

lol... yeah, but when ur in that situation all u can think about is just getting outside & away from anything hard being above u... now i know better... hahaha.

I lived in San Jose when I experience my second earthquake It was funny because I thought my wife turned on the garbage disposal at first, and then my feet started moving side to side while I sat on the sofa. My wife and I booked it out the door on to the balcony. I tought a lot of people would come out and run into their balcony and parking lot but no one came out. I guess they were all use to earthquakes in California.

My first earthquake was in India in 1993. I was on a train so I didn't feel anything but then my train got delayed by hours then we found out there was an earthquake. That was one of the more devastating one a lot of people lost their lives in Gujrat.

Oh and there was a time when the gas maine in the hudson river exploded it caused brooklyn to shake a bit.

[Edited by - Vmart on 07-29-2008 8:04 PM]

TMS, I am glad you're OK, but although I support your idea of going on your balcony during an earthquake, I suggest going to the roof and climbing on top of the flag pole on the very top of the roof. That's the safest place to be during an earthquake. I promise.